Kettler Axos 1 Outdoor Table Tennis Table
The Kettler Axos 1 is a first-rate outdoor table tennis table that has been neatly manufactured in Germany. The 22mm thick, aluminium composite top is strong and weatherproof to ensure great play both indoors and outdoors. What is more, the tournament-sized top delivers excellent ball rebound.

Cornilleau Tacteo 30 Schoolsport Composite Bat
The Cornilleau Tacteo 30 schoolsport composite bat has an injected polymer blade making it resistant to impacts, UV rays and humidity and offers the Skin+ covering to provide a better grip and enhanced control. The bat is very durable and designed for learning and intensive practice of table tennis.

Table Tennis

Who would have expected an after-dinner amusement amongst the gentry to develop into a much-respected Olympic sport in the space of a century? Table tennis did so, but the game played in the 1880s would not much resemble the now widely played international sport.

It is thought that the origins of the game date back to Victorian dinner parties where, once the dishes had been cleared away, books were brought out to make a net and also used as a hitting device for discarded champagne corks or golf balls. The concept may have been adapted from versions developed in India or South Africa by British soldiers who then introduced it back home.

It caught on quickly, and popularity soared around the turn of the century as it was a very accessible game; most households would have had the necessary table, books and something to act as a ball. Sometimes the lids from cigar boxes served as rackets before special equipment was later designed and mass-produced.The game became known colloquially as “ping-pong” and “wiff-waff” because of the noise made when using a piece of wood with parchment attached to the head of a primitive racket. The name “ping-pong” was trademarked by J. Jaques & Son Ltd in Britain and by The Parker Brothers in the USA, so the term table tennis was principally adopted.

1901 saw a number of breakthroughs in the development of the sport. Celluloid balls were used for playing and then rubber was employed to cover wooden racket heads, and the modern sport started to take shape.Twenty years later the Table Tennis Association was created in Britain, and in 1926 The International Table Tennis Federation was founded. That same year, London played host to the inaugural World Championships, the first officially held table tennis tournament.

Sponge was placed between the layers of rubber and wood in the 1950s, which had a drastic effect on spin and speed in the game. The sport debuted at the inaugural Paralympics in 1960.In 1988 the sport’s status gained a big boost by being included in the Olympic Games for the first time, and it has remained a Games sport ever since. On South Korean soil in 1988, the hosts and China won 9 out of the 12 available medals in the men’s and women’s singles and doubles competitions.

China remains the dominant force in Olympic table tennis, having won 47 medals since 1988 with nearest rival South Korea having won just 18. In 2008 China took a clean sweep in the singles medals and won both team golds as well. Its popularity in Asia gives the sport one of the highest numbers of players worldwide.A number of rules changes have been introduced over the last 20 years in order to slow the game down to make it more visible for television audiences. However, this has not stopped technological advances from influencing the game, with carbon-fibre, aluminium and Kevlar used in the production of the highest quality rackets.

The basic equipment needed to get started consists of a bat, a ball and a playing surface, ideally of standard sized and wooden with a material net. Bats and balls can be purchased very cheaply and in sets, although better quality rackets which will help with gameplay will be more costly. Investing in a table might be too much for recreational players, but there are many other ways to play properly: local clubs, sport and fitness centres, community centres, concrete tables in parks, and even in bars and pubs.

The advantages of playing go beyond just amusement. The intense and fast-paced nature of the non-contact game mean you can get a cardiovascular workout with a low risk of injury.A fun fact is that the sport was banned in Russia during the early 20th century because it was believed that the sport was dangerous for people’s eyes.

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